


You'll Be Saving Mine

by nawrry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, lots of fluff, slow burn narry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2013-11-01
Packaged: 2017-12-31 03:10:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nawrry/pseuds/nawrry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's always felt alone, and thought that he liked it that way until he met Niall, who might just be as alone as he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You'll Be Saving Mine

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first try at writing slash so I hope it's not painfully obvious that it is. I'd love to know what you think of it, if there's anything I could improve, if you have suggestions. I'm desperate. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy!

You’ll Be Saving Mine 

Harry knows the blond-haired boy swaggering towards him, the one with the long, lanky limbs and the loud laugh he’s heard from across campus before. He knows he’s well-liked, and there’s probably a reason for that, but right now Harry can’t think of any reason why he should feel the same fondness for him. Harry has to remind himself that he agreed to tutor this boy, that his best friend Liam, who coincidently runs in a few of the same circles as Niall was the one who told Harry about the job. Niall needs help in Physics, and although Physics isn’t part of Harry’s pre-med studies, but he figures he’s smart enough to help the kid get a C in the class. Plus he could use the money.

Harry closes his book and looks up to where he saw Niall walking towards him, frowning when he realizes he’s lost sight of the boy. Glancing around, he catches him leaning over another table, talking to a boy with light brown hair and another with dark hair and dark eyes. Harry watches as Niall’s head tips back in laughter, his adam’s apple bobbing. He fights back the urge to know what the boy is laughing about and instead focuses on tapping his pencil on his notebook, growing impatient over the fact that Niall is five minutes late to his first tutoring session without any care. He’s glaring down at the table when a flash of blond hair sitting down across him catches his attention.

A pair of bright blue eyes stare back at him, crinkled on the edges as the boy gives Harry a wide smile, probably still laughing internally at whatever he was talking to his friends about.

“Hey, you Harry?” Niall asks, the edges of his accent hard and obviously Irish. “I’m Niall.” Harry stares at Niall’s outstretched hand for a moment before taking it and shaking it quickly.

“Let’s get started,” Harry instructs, wanting the other boy to realize that he wants to be respected, that this isn’t a chance for Niall to slack off and make Harry do all of the work. “What chapter are you on?”

“Oh, I, uh- I don’t know,” Niall confesses, chuckling after he shrugs. Harry lowers his eyes and rolls them because honestly, how could the kid be that far behind? After settling that the rest of Niall’s class is on chapter seven while Niall got left behind somewhere around chapter one, Harry gets right down to work making study guides and finding the errors in Niall’s work. The other boy is a bit fidgety, but he listens well and catches on pretty quickly, and Harry can’t help but crack a small smile as Niall’s face lights up each time he gets a problem right. Harry feels himself beginning to catch on to why everyone seems to like this kid, how the carefree light behind his wide blue eyes and the lilt of his laugh seem to be utterly charming and well, cute. Harry might even catch himself staring at the freckles that dot Niall’s nose and cheeks and the pink flush to his lips, but he forces himself to look away before his cheeks burn too brightly.

Harry’s reading over what Niall’s next assignment will be when he hears the blonde’s pencil drop to the table. Harry glances up to find Niall running his hands through his hair, revealing and inch of dark roots, which Harry isn’t sure why he’s focusing on.

“Finished. Can we be done for today?” Niall asks. “We’ve been at it for an hour and a half, and I promised my friends Louis and Zayn that I’d grab dinner with them after. They’ve been sitting over there shooting me death glares for the last thirty minutes.” Harry follows Niall point to the table Niall was at earlier, the same two boys he was talking to now staring directly at them. The one with the light colored hair childishly sticks his tongue out, a gesture Niall reciprocates with a laugh.

“Yeah, you can go. Sorry if I wasted your time,” Harry murmurs. Niall stops shoving things into his backpack and looks up at Harry.

“You didn’t waste my time. You’re saving my life, you know,” he chuckles. “Thank you.”

Harry returns Niall’s smirk and starts packing up his things too. “Yeah, judging by your last test score I really am saving your life.”

“Hey!” Niall laughs. “You’re my tutor, you’re supposed to be supportive!”

Harry looks up from his bag, about to fire back a witty response when all of a sudden his throat goes dry and he loses whatever it was he wanted to say, because Niall’s beaming back at him, his smile is wide and his eyes are bright and Harry swears he would do anything to feel this way again and again, like nothing else in the world matters. His thoughts are interrupted when one of Niall’s friends comes up and throws his arm around Niall’s shoulders.

“I don’t know if you noticed mate, but Zayn and I have been making hungry death stares at you for quite some time now,” the boy, presumably Louis, whines. “Can we please go eat now?”

“Yes, Lou,” Niall groans exasperatedly. His gaze settles quickly on Harry’s face again. “Guys this is Harry, Harry this is Zayn and Louis.”

Zayn gives Harry a polite nod, he seems the most calm out of the three boys, while Louis drops his arm from around Niall’s shoulders and claps his hand on Harry’s back.

“So you’re the one keeping our Nialler from flunking out of college?” Louis asks. Harry notices the nickname for Niall, he’s not sure why but it seems to fit.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Harry shrugs.

“Well good, we like having him around,” Louis grins. “So, are you joining us for dinner?”

Harry’s first instinct is no, as it usually is with most invitations. He’s not exactly a social person, especially not with three people he really just met, and one of those people being Niall, who gives him this quivering feeling in his stomach that he’s not sure what exactly is.

He’s formulating a way to make his dinner plans (eating soup by himself while watching television) sound more important when he glances up at Niall. The smaller boy is watching him with this innocent, hopeful look, and for a second Harry imagines what it would feel like if he was the reason to ever let that look disappear. He doesn’t like the feeling, so he agrees to go to dinner.

He’s still figuring out why there’s something about Niall that seems to be growing on him, especially when just two hours ago he all but hated the kid. But then Niall falls in step next to him, chatting happily in Harry’s ear, and Harry decides he likes whatever it is.

******

They go to a diner down the street from campus that Harry’s only walked past before, sitting in a booth by the front window. It grew dark outside during the walk over, when Harry looks out the window next to him he’s staring back at his own reflection. He jumps when he notices Niall’s watching his reflection too, their eyes meeting for a second in the glass before Harry blushes and looks away, the image of Niall’s bright blue eyes smirking back at him lingering in his mind. It should feel strange, hanging out with these three people he’s never met before, but Harry can’t seem to find the want to distance himself from them, to push them away like he does most people. They haven’t really given him a chance to, it was like they wanted him there too. He and Niall share one side of the booth while Louis and Zayn situate themselves on the other side. Each boy picks up their menu and orders quickly, eager to chase away their hunger. After the waitress leaves Zayn turns towards Harry.

“So Harry, what’s your major?” He asks. It’s one of the few things he’s heard the dark-haired boy say, Louis and Niall did most of the talking on the way over.

“Pre-med,” Harry answers. He watches as Louis eyes widen a bit in excitement.

“You’re a med student? Could you take a look at this thing on my foot?” Louis bends his foot so it’s resting on the seat, working to unlace his shoe before Harry can say anything. “My football cleats give me this horrible blister and I-“

“Lou!” Niall interrupts. “Put your foot down, Jesus, we’re about to eat on this table.” Louis narrows his eyes as Zayn pushes his leg back down. “Harry doesn’t want to look at your nasty toe anyway,” Niall continues, shooting Harry a look that reads “I’ve got your back”. Harry nods back.

“I’m not a doctor yet anyway, I wouldn’t know what to say,” he stammers, hoping to appease a rather disappointed looking Louis.

“Close enough,” Louis shrugs. “Another time I guess.”

The boys talk until the food arrives. Harry finds out that Louis’ a drama major (which didn’t surprise him), Zayn is studying English, and Niall’s major is sound engineering. Harry could probably sit for hours listening to Niall talk about his love for making music, watching the way his eyes seem to focus on something far away as they spark with excitement, how his lips move somewhat clumsily to form words. Niall is just beginning to describe it and Harry is just beginning to lose himself when Louis interrupts him, claiming that he’d rather not listen to Niall talk about his major for the “five millionth time”. The attention turns back to the group, but Harry still feels a buzz of excitement from Niall, something about him radiating happiness. He tries to focus his attention away from sitting closer to Niall to Louis and Zayn across the table, trying to decide if the two are together. Judging by the amount of shared glances and not-so-subtle touching, Harry figures they’re something. He wonders if Niall is that way too, if he wants to reach over and take Harry’s hand as badly as he wants to take his. You shouldn’t be thinking like that, he tells himself, trying to refocus again as their food comes.

After they’ve eaten Niall offers to walk with Harry back to his apartment, an offer Harry has to remind himself was only made because Niall doesn’t live that far from Harry, or so the blonde-haired boy claims. As Zayn and Louis say their goodbyes and walk the other way, Harry becomes acutely aware that he’s alone with Niall again, but this time he isn’t being his tutor, there’s no objective topic to be focused on, it’s just him and Niall. He’s racking his brain for something interesting to say, anything interesting really, but the silence doesn’t seem to bother Niall, who has his head tipped back slightly to look up at the night sky. Harry leans his back as well, earning a soft chuckle from Niall.

“I don’t know what I’m looking at,” the shorter boy laughs. Harry detects a bit of nervousness in his chuckle, a sound he matches.

“I don’t know what you’re looking at either.”

Niall’s grin reaches his for a moment before he looks ahead. “Thanks for inviting me to eat with you guys,” Harry continues, his fingers crossing because he really hopes he doesn’t sound totally lame right now. “It was fun.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Niall replies. “I hope you didn’t think Louis was too much of a hot mess.” Niall snickers at something to himself. “Can’t believe I dated him during first year.” Niall’s eyes dart over to Harry’s to gauge his reaction. The taller boy doesn’t say anything, just raises his eyebrows in surprise.

“Yeah,” Niall continues. “It only lasted like a month. We’re too, I don’t know, outgoing for each other? Zayn balances him out much better, even though they’re technically not an item yet.” Harry nods understandably, satisfied that a couple of his questions from earlier have been answered.

The walk back to his apartment is shorter than he wishes it was, and he finds himself wishing he had just one, maybe ten more blocks left to walk with Niall by his side. Harry feels some sort of sinking feeling inside him, like he’s coming down from some sort of high, as they reach his building, lingering outside of the door for a moment.

“So um- I got your number from Liam, so I’ll just text you later this week so we can meet up?” Niall asks. His hand moves under his chin, stroking at some sort of imaginary stubble. Harry has to remind himself that Niall’s referring to a tutoring session.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Harry replies. A beat of silence falls between them before Harry reminds himself that he should probably go inside. “Goodnight, Niall,” he grins.

Niall smiles shyly back, scuffing his feet on the pavement. “Goodnight, Harry. Thanks again.”

Harry watches for a moment after Niall turns away before stepping inside.

*****

It’s late at night when Harry realizes what about Niall had grown on him so quickly, why when Niall walked away it felt like coming down from a high. Harry spent the rest of the evening in his quiet apartment by himself, trying to study for a test he has coming up, but every time he attempted to focus he became overly aware of the silence around him, the way it seemed to weigh on his shoulders and made it difficult to think clearly. Looking around the apartment, Harry knows that everything is the same, that this is the life he’s told himself he prefers. But as he climbs into bed that night and pulls the blanket over himself he knows something is missing. And that something might just be the blue-eyed boy he met today.

*****

Liam stops by on his way to class the next day, scrolling through his phone as he waits for Harry to get ready to leave.

“So did you and Niall ever meet up?” Liam asks. Harry can feel his heart skip a beat at the mention of Niall’s name, which kind of annoys him because he’s been spending the last 24 hours trying to get that boy out of his mind.

“Yeah, yesterday,” Harry replies.

“Did you like him?”

_Did I like him?_ Harry asks to himself. “Uh yeah, he’s nice.”

Harry glances up to find his best friend smirking back at him. “What?”

Liam shrugs. “I figured you two would get along.”

Harry ignores this, or he tries to.

*****

The next two weeks are a blur of blue eyes and blonde hair and the infectious sound of Niall’s laugh, of nights spent in the library that last longer than planned. Every time he’s with Niall he feels full of light and warmth, like every piece of him that’s ever felt empty or lonely has been filled. He finds himself spending more time with Louis and Zayn as well, growing fond of Louis’ dramatics and Zayn’s calm presence, but it’s the time he spends with Niall means the most to him. The hour a week spent studying together seems not to be enough for either boy, so soon it’s an hour three times a week, then five, with no end in sight after they’ve finished studying.

Niall is easy to talk to, he listens with wide eyes and a gentle smile. He remembers things well, like how Harry takes his tea and what bands Harry listens to. In turn Harry learns Niall’s quirks, the way he chews his lip when he thinks, how smart Niall really is when he challenges himself, everything that he can memorize about the older boy he can in a one to two hour span. Miraculously Niall’s grade in Physics goes up as well, which gives Harry the reason to breathe a sigh of relief, because he doesn’t want to ever let Niall down.

Everything is going pretty perfect, but Harry can’t shake the feeling that this won’t last forever, that soon Niall won’t need a tutor anymore, that Harry will be forgotten and will slip back into the loneliness that Niall once saved him from. He tries to tell Niall this, he can taste the words in the back of his throat, things like I feel something for you, please don’t let me go, but he can never voice these words. It’s never the right time, the right place, and something about Niall’s eyes connected with his makes his throat just go dry, so he waits.

*****

It’s a late Friday night when Harry gets the call, his phone lighting up in the darkness of his room, the caller ID reading Niall. Harry doesn’t hesitate to bring the phone to his ear. He remembers Niall saying something about going to a party tonight, why he would be calling him he’s not sure.

“Hello?” Harry answers, his voice still slightly gruff from being half asleep. “Niall?”

He doesn’t hear anything for a moment, but the sound of a deep breath on the other side startles him. Niall’s voice comes next, shaky and small and weak.

“Harry? I need your help.”

“What do you need?” Harry demands, already swinging his feet over the side of his bed and finding a pair of sweatpants and some shoes to throw on. He doesn’t know what it is, but something is definitely wrong, something has happened to make Niall sound so scared, and Harry knows he’ll do anything to make it better again. He’s so in over his head for this boy and he knows it.

He hears Niall take another shuddering breath before he continues, his words slightly slurred.

“I’m at that gas station not too far from your place. Can you come get me?”

“Absolutely, I’ll be right there.” Harry promises. He knows the place Niall is referring to, the one the blonde told him had the best hot dogs in the world one time.

Harry nervously taps his fingers on the steering wheel as he drives. The image of Niall hurt and stranded at some sketchy gas station fills Harry’s mind. He presses down on the gas pedal a little harder.

When Harry pulls up to the station he immediately finds Niall, the small boy sitting on a bench outside the shop, his knees pulled up to his chest and his forehead resting on his kneecaps. Harry turns off the car and walks over to him. He waits a second before he says anything to Niall, who’s face is still hidden from him. He notices the way Niall is shaking, the boy is only wearing a tank top in November. Without thinking, Harry shrugs off his own jacket and drapes it over Niall’s shoulders, letting his hand rest on Niall’s back.

“Niall,” he murmurs, lowering his head so he can look into Niall’s blue, clouded eyes. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Niall sighs and shrugs a little. “I was at a party with Louis and Zayn, they wanted to leave and I said I would stay, and then I don’t know, I left and now I’m here.” Niall keeps his eyes averted from Harry’s while he talks, focused on scuffing his shoes together. It’s too vague of a description for Harry to know what really happened, but it’s clear that Niall doesn’t really want to talk about it, so he lets it go.

“It’s okay Niall,” he murmurs, rubbing his hand soothingly on Niall’s back. “I’m here, do you want to go home?”

Niall sniffs and rubs his hands over his eyes. “Do you think…would it be alright if I came over to yours?” He asks softly. “You can make me sleep on the couch, I just don’t want to be alone I guess.”

Harry’s throat goes dry of the thought of Niall in his apartment, sleeping over, being there in the morning, but Niall’s giving him that innocently hopeful look, and there’s no way Harry can say no to that.

“I know the feeling. Come on.”

Harry leads Niall over to his car, noting the way Niall walks with a shakiness in his step, probably due to the cold and the alcohol he consumed earlier. Harry’s a little ways down the road when Niall speaks up.

“Thanks for coming to get me,” he murmurs. “I feel like I owe you a lot.”

Harry shakes his head. “No you don’t, we’re friends, right?” His heart sinks a bit when he says friends, just another reminder that he’s sure that’s all Niall sees him as.

The rest of the ride home is quiet, Harry leads Niall up to his apartment. The smaller boy is still shivering, so Harry grabs an extra pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and offers them to Niall. The pants legs swallow Niall’s legs and the sleeves hang past his wrists, and Harry wishes he could just wrap him up in his arms and keep him safe and warm forever.

Niall makes his way over to the couch and perches himself on the edge, but something about it makes him look out of place, Harry can still see the way Niall’s eyes seem to be lost, unfocused, and the curly-haired boy worries that if he leaves Niall alone tonight he’ll disappear.

“You can sleep in my bed,” Harry offers, trying his best to sound casual as his heart threatens to burst out of his chest. “I mean, if you want. This couch isn’t very comfortable...”

Harry’s not sure how, but five minutes later Niall’s curled up in his bed, his eyes already closed as Harry crawls in the space next to him, making sure to keep some distance between them. He can feel the warmth from Niall, can hear his breathing become deep and even, but even as Harry’s eyes slip closed he can’t believe he hasn’t woken up from this dream.

*****

In the morning Niall is still there, but something has changed from when Harry’s eyes closed. The curly haired boy wakes up to Niall’s face just inches from his, their feet touching underneath the covers, Harry’s taller frame somewhat curled around Niall’s. Harry startles when he realizes this, but Niall continues sleeping peacefully. His blonde hair has fallen down on his forehead, looking soft and messy at the same time. Harry watches as Niall’s eyelids flutter in a dream, his gaze following the delicate line of Niall’s nose down to his pink, pouted lips. He looks untouched, like nothing bad could have happened, and if only Harry could keep him here like this he would make sure it stayed that way. Tentatively Harry reaches forward, and brushes his fingers through Niall’s bangs, fighting back the urge to lean forward and press a kiss to Niall’s sleepy lips.

Harry’s cooking breakfast, pancakes and bacon and eggs and tea and everything else he can think of because he doesn’t know what Niall likes but the boy eats more than anyone Harry’s ever met, when Niall shuffles into the kitchen, Harry’s sweatpants still hanging over his feet.

“Good morning,” Harry greets him with a grin. He figures Niall probably isn’t a morning person by the way he can only reply with a lazy smirk.

“Do you treat all your guests this well?” Niall asks a moment later.

“Maybe. What do you mean by that?” Harry replies, unable to fight back the goofy grin plastered on his face.

“I don’t know, you give them your clothes, your bed, then cook them a massive breakfast the next morning? Is this typical?”

Harry bites his lip. “No,” he admits. He looks up to find Niall biting back a grin as well.

“Good,” the blonde murmurs. The two share a look that leaves Harry practically in a puddle of butterflies and sunshine and God, Niall is really too cute in the morning.

Harry finishes cooking under the watchful eye of Niall, serving the blonde a large plate of food. The two settle on the couch Harry claimed wasn’t that comfortable the night before. Harry lets Niall eat for a few minutes in silence before he brings up the night before.

“So if you don’t mind me asking, what happened last night?” He asks, watching Niall from the corner of his eye to make sure he’s okay.

“Oh, um, I was at the party with Louis and Zayn, and I told them it was fine if they left, and it was until the party started getting really crowded and um-“ Niall takes a sip of his tea, trying to form the right thing to say. “I got really claustrophobic, I do that sometimes, and I had like a panic attack I guess.”

Niall shrugs like it’s nothing, but his blue eyes cloud like they were last night. Harry wants to reach out to Niall like he did last night, but he stays put.

“I just…I felt like nobody there even noticed me. Like there were all these people I call my friends and none of them even saw how freaked out I was. Nobody even cared.” Niall’s voice grows soft and shaky again. “And I was drunk and had to get out of there so I walked to that gas station and called you.”

Harry gives Niall a gentle smile, silently letting him know it’s alright.

“Sorry I brought all of this on you,” Niall sighs. “We can forget all about it.”

Harry is silent for a beat. He knows he could let it go, that they could forget about it go back to being friends, and just that, but before he can think anymore he’s blurting out what he’s always wanted to.

“I care about you, Niall,” he says. “And I know Louis and Zayn and Liam and a whole bunch of other people care about you too. None of them were at that party but that doesn’t matter because I probably care about you more than any of those people combined.”

Niall’s watching him with his lips parted and his brow furrowed, but he’s focused on nothing but the words Harry’s saying, so he continues.

“And I know what it’s like to feel that alone. Before I met you, God, before I met you I was so alone, and afraid all the time and I didn’t even realize how sad I was but then you came around and you just fit all of those pieces that were empty in me. It sounds so cheesy and you might not feel the same way but-“

Harry can’t finish his ramble because all of a sudden Niall’s hands are cupping his cheeks and his lips are on his, and Niall’s kissing him. Harry’s so surprised he actually pulls away at first, sucking in a breath while Niall looks up at him in pure horror, like he’s crossed a line he shouldn’t, but this time it’s Niall who can’t finish because Harry’s lips are on his now, moving slowly but eagerly as his long arms wrap around Niall’s small waist. Niall’s got his hands running through Harry’s curls, stroking his scalp and making it feel all tingly.

Both of them take ragged breaths, inhaling the scent of the other before slowly finishing their kiss, savoring the feeling of the other’s lips just in case it’s the last time they ever will.

The first thing Harry sees when he pulls away is the blue of Niall’s eyes, that perfect deep blue that Harry could lose himself in. Everything from the tips of his fingers to the pit of his stomach is tingling and buzzing and his only thought is he wants more of Niall, everything is Niall, Niall, Niall. A blush is creeping up on Niall’s cheeks, so he chuckles nervously and glances down.

“I- um- I care about you too,” he grins. “I called you last night because you were the only person I wanted there, the only person I’ve wanted for a while now. I don’t let people in very easily, like really in, but I let you close to me without even realizing it.” Niall scoots closer and lays his head on Harry’s shoulder, Harry presses his nose into Niall’s blonde mop of hair and hums.

“We were doing some cuddling this morning,” Harry grins.

Niall’s moved practically into his lap, snuggling into Harry’s chest as his arms wrap around the smaller boy.

“I know, I was awake when you were playing with my hair,” Niall chuckles. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to stop.”

“I wouldn’t have,” Harry murmurs. Niall glances up at him with wide, smiling eyes, his lips pressing to Harry’s again, softer and sweeter this time.

In this moment, with Niall in his arms and their mouths pressed together, Harry knows he’ll never let Niall feel uncared for again, he’ll make sure to prove everyday that neither of them are alone anymore.


End file.
